Strangely enough, it was the sail with red markings on some pics of Bravos that we were looking at which helped convince my wife that we needed a little sailboat to get over to the beach on days we were too tired (OK Lazy) to kayak.

When it arrived, it came with the more recent blue and green sail. My wife was extremely disappointed and after a lot of sulking, I called him back to ask if by some slim chance, could he source a red one before we took this one out on the water. He was extremely accommodating (Hats off Rodrigo!) and called back with news he actually had one in storage. We arranged to cross ship sails and everyone was happy.

My point... never underestimate the power of WAF in big ticket purchases.

In the late 1960’s, only a fewboat manufacturers offered coloredsails, most notably Alcort, themakers of the Sailfish and Sunfish.Hobie Cats seemed made for color.But the first colors weren't in thesails – they were in the hulls.When you ordered a Hobie 14in the late 60’s, you could choosefrom twelve different gel coatcolors and you could select separatecolors for the hulls and decks.From a distance though, you stillcouldn't tell a Hobie Cat from anyother sailboat. Hobie Cat neededsomething to make their product unique and with anyluck, sell more boats. The fully battened sails were anatural canvas, so Hobie started introducing coloredpanels. The rest is history. Today, Hobie Cats andcolored sails are inexorably connected.

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy new sails for my 16 in the next year or so. I wish there were more options. I still have a soft spot for the Carumba sails on my first '84 I sailed with my Dad. I'd love to see some of those Hobie Europe patterns offered in the US now that the Hobiecat companies have reunited. (any chance Matt?)

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy new sails for my 16 in the next year or so. I wish there were more options.

Take a look at the six colors in Hobie's sail loft now: White, red, blue, green, yellow, gray. If you're getting new sails and don't like the patterns offered off the shelf then take some initiative and creativity and spend the extra couple bux and get a custom pattern. I'm thinking of doing it for my 18. I'd like a red, white, yellow pattern. Maybe a blue, white, yellow one?

Shoot. . . a stock Hobie sail already stands out from the crowd, why not stand out in the Hobie crowd? Maybe you can get some ideas from here:

The sail colors go a loooong way. As i'm cruising all over the lakes in Mid MS ect...i see people whipping out their cameras and kids waving all over the place... Makes me feel good. From Car to water with one crew member in less than half an hour doesn't seem like any big deal at all.... not to mention, i didn't need to stop off at the marina and drop $200 into a gas tank for a few hours of cruising ( although being stranded with NO wind on a summer evening miles from ramp really SUCKS ) Seems everyone has a ski boat or pontoon boat out on the water.... NONE draw the attention of a catamaran flying along the water that i've seen. I have two H16's now with the cooler carts off the front beam... could make a few more friends this up coming summer. Hope to see you guys at the regatta's ect soon! I'll be whipping out a newly restored H16 this summer..... any ideas on boat names? ( off topic i know ) No biggie

The new designs are a killer high-tech performance look..... I mean like a 70's/80's/90's , everyone can do it, simple striped look. The older boats looked like a case of cheap beer tastes........Really Good! Tim

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy new sails for my 16 in the next year or so. I wish there were more options.

Take a look at the six colors in Hobie's sail loft now: White, red, blue, green, yellow, gray. If you're getting new sails and don't like the patterns offered off the shelf then take some initiative and creativity and spend the extra couple bux and get a custom pattern. I'm thinking of doing it for my 18. I'd like a red, white, yellow pattern. Maybe a blue, white, yellow one?

Shoot. . . a stock Hobie sail already stands out from the crowd, why not stand out in the Hobie crowd? Maybe you can get some ideas from here:

I have to say, my favorite sail colors were from the first few years, just a 1 color alternating with white for simple stripes, it is way more unique than most patterns. If I had money for it, my boat would be getting striped yellow sails. or maybe striped red sails? man, choices. There are still a ton you can get from Hobie. It'll just cost you more.

Being the stickler for detail that I am, I went on the Mariner Sails website and looked up the price of a white set of H16 sails vs. the price of a custom set of H16 sails. White main and jib: $1425. Custom order main and jib: $1937. A Seabreeze or Hot Tamale pattern will be somewhere in between.

I like the legacy patterns, but I really enjoy seeing some of the custom patterns that people have designed. If I were going to buy new sails, I would go with Hobie-built custom sails. I'd stick with Hobie because they are the best quality and will last longer, not to mention they're class legal which is important to racers, even bad ones like me. Class legal sails will also demand better resale value than an aftermarket set.

I bought new Hobie sails for my 20 a few years ago and went the custom route. Maybe you like them, maybe you don't, but no one has a pattern like this!